By Wemimo ADEWUNI |
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, is set to host a virtual Global Vaccine Summit bringing together leaders from around the world.
The summit is aimed at seeking support for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, to protect a further 300 million children against infectious diseases like measles, typhoid and polio.
The Global Vaccine Summit aims to raise at least US$7.4 billion to help Gavi save up to 8 million lives.
As host, the UK is continuing its global leadership on tackling preventable deaths and stopping the spread of coronavirus.
“The UK pledged £388 million, which is made up of support we have announced for new vaccines, tests and treatments. This includes £250 million to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations to research a coronavirus vaccine – the biggest contribution of any country to this fund; £40 million to support the Global Therapeutics Accelerator, a fund for the rapid development of coronavirus treatments; £23 million to support the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics to develop rapid tests for the virus to help identify and slow its spread; and £75 million for the World Health Organization to help them support countries who have weak healthcare systems,” the UK said.
The UK has committed an additional £20m through the African Union’s new ‘Africa anti-COVID 19 fund’ to recruit and deploy African health experts where they are needed most, to tackle the pandemic.
The UK is proud to be Gavi’s leading donor, and on 29 April the International Development Secretary pledged the equivalent of £330 million a year over the next five years from the aid budget to protect 75 million children from preventable diseases. Gavi is a crucial partner in the fight against infectious diseases globally, including coronavirus.
“With the support of UK Aid, Gavi has immunised over 760 million children in the world’s poorest countries, saving more than 13 million lives. Between 2000 and 2023 Gavi has committed over 3 billion US dollars alone to Nigeria to combat diseases like Measles, Meningitis and Yellow Fever.
“Gavi is critical to fighting coronavirus too. In the face of the pandemic, and with UK support, Gavi is already helping poorer countries strengthen vulnerable health systems to help deal with the rising number of coronavirus cases, addressing countries’ immediate COVID-19 needs, including essential supplies such as PPE and infection prevention and control,” the UK added.
Speaking on the upcoming Summit, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing said that producing a vaccine for Covid-19 is a priority for the UK government as this will help save lives in Nigeria and globally from the deadly virus.
“Gavi is already working hard with partners to ensure any future vaccine that is safe and effective is delivered at scale around the world,” Laing added.
We welcome Gavi’s partnership with Nigeria over the years, which has helped to fight diseases such as yellow fever, meningitis and measles by improving immunisation rates and strengthening the health systems across the country.
I welcome the international recognition Nigerians have received for their role in supporting the global effort to find a cure and stop the spread of the coronavirus such as Gavi’s recognition of the Nigerian Public Health and Health Promotion Specialist, Dr. Obinna Ebirim, for his tireless and passionate advocacy for equitable access to vaccines and sustainable immunisation financing in Nigeria.”
Speaking on the upcoming Summit, Dr. Obinna said Gavi is known to support health systems strengthening initiatives that ensures that Vaccines get to the last mile where they are used to vaccinate children and prevent vaccine preventable diseases.
“As we move towards the Global Vaccine Summit to be hosted by the United Kingdom, I call on countries and donors to support the work Gavi is doing. Your support to Gavi means that you are supporting Vaccination programmes in poor and remote communities around the world and in Nigeria, that wouldn’t have had access to vaccines if not for the support Gavi provides,” Dr Obinna added.
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